


Candlelight

by TrainRush



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [18]
Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Pre-Canon, veeeery hurt/comfort-y
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29534682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrainRush/pseuds/TrainRush
Summary: DAY 18: “i can’t see”The nights can get dark in the basement.—(or, alternatively, DJ Grooves and the Conductor share a small moment together.)
Relationships: The Conductor & DJ Grooves (A Hat in Time)
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105115
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Candlelight

In the midst of the oddly entrancing dance of the lights and the hum of the crowd, there was a shift in the atmosphere.

It was small and barely noticeable, like a whisper on the wind, but as soon as it made its presence known, it persistently lingered at the back of DJ Grooves’s mind until he noticed what was wrong.

For a typical party hosted in the deep basement, everyone seemed to have their own positions that they defaulted to. His closest penguin bodyguards stayed by his side. Grooves himself was center stage. And, on occasional nights when the Conductor joined the fray, he immediately seated himself at the bar. Here, Grooves noticed the discrepancy. The owl was no longer where he once was. Instead of nearly drowning himself in alcohol like he typically did, the Conductor had instead begun to stagger towards the exit.

Seeing this confused Grooves. On typical nights when the Conductor would drink at their bar, he would stay late, sometimes even past when the party had ended. It was not like him at all to suddenly get up and leave. Had something happened?

His startled confusion was enough to bring him into action, and he attempted to break away from the crowd of Moon Penguins without bringing too much attention to himself. Sticking out like a sore thumb, of course, he was not very successful. Still, despite being stopped by several of his fans on his way, Grooves was able to place a flipper on the Conductor’s shoulder just before the latter reached the elevator. 

Immediately, the Conductor flinched away, recoiling from Grooves’s grasp and staring up at him in surprise. Taking his hand away cautiously, Grooves cleared his throat.

“Leaving so soon?”

The Conductor seemed to process this sentence for a moment before speaking up. “Aye. I’ve got a lot of work I need to do tomorrow. I’ll need sleep.”

For a moment, Grooves believed it. But then as he let those words sit in his mind, something struck him as… odd. Was it how he wavered one of his words? Was it in the tone he used? He wasn’t sure. But something was up. The Conductor may have been a good actor, but Grooves had known him for decades.

He lowered his voice. “Are you okay?”

As immediate as a reaction could be for a drunken owl, the Conductor hissed. “Can a man not leave a party in peace? Leave me alone, you peckin’ nonce.”

And the Conductor turned his back to DJ Grooves and boarded the elevator.

Something was  _ definitely  _ wrong.

—

For the rest of the party, that short interaction between him and his rival played over and over again in his mind. Despite how short it had been, it was plenty enough to bring about concern in Grooves’s mind, and as such, he ended up calling the party a half an hour short of when it was supposed to end. When questioned, he cited the exact same excuse the Conductor had given him: the Moon Penguins had work to do tomorrow, and they needed their sleep. They took it without question as they usually did and so suddenly as it had begun, the brilliant show of lights and music was gone. The party was over, and Grooves was left alone. 

The ride in the elevator seemed to take an eternity with his thoughts clouding his mind as powerfully as they did. Was the Conductor okay? ...No, that was a stupid question. The Conductor was never okay. At least, it seemed that way as of lately. With every passing day, his mental health appeared to worsen. His drinking became heavier, and his passion dulled while his anger sharpened. All things considered, he  _ definitely  _ wasn’t okay. Especially not right now.

The elevator stopped and Grooves stepped off. The halls of the basement were dark, even more so with it being late in the night. With the way that the walls crowded against him alongside stacked boxes and buckets and trolleys, it almost made him claustrophobic. 

...And what if the Conductor  _ was _ just tired? It was unlikely, sure, but Grooves didn’t want to walk in on him sleeping. What would he say to him, then?  _ ‘Oh, sorry, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t having a mental breakdown.’ _ Yeah, right — Conductor would kill him on the spot. Both for waking him up and for showing concern where it wasn’t necessary. ...But this was necessary, right? He wasn’t  _ imagining  _ the Conductor’s bad mood… right?

Just as he was suddenly filled with uncertainty, DJ Grooves reached the door to the Conductor’s bedroom. He could see that the lights weren’t on inside the room, which was already a bad sign. Was he really asleep? Did he want to find out?

Nervously, he brought his hand into a fist and knocked on the door—

—only for the door to gently crack open as he hit it.

Grooves blinked in surprise. Had the Conductor forgotten to fully close the door? He supposed so — besides, it wouldn’t have been too surprising considering the latter  _ was  _ drunk.

But did he really want to go in?

...The door was already open. Supposing there wasn’t much turning back, Grooves slowly cracked open the door and peeked into the room.

The first thing DJ Grooves noticed was that the Conductor’s bed was empty. Meaning either that Conductor wasn’t in his room, or he was somewhere else in the room entirely. But where would he be?

His question was answered quickly, as he heard a very slight shuffle from one of the corners of the room. Freezing, Grooves glanced towards the source of the noise to see the shadow of the Conductor sitting against one of the far walls, his knees pulled up against his chest.

Grooves felt his heart sink. Why was he on the floor? ...Could he not even have made it to his bed?

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

As soon as he did, the room became pitch black. Giving himself some time to let his eyes adjust, he thought for a moment. Then he knew.

Walking over to a desk in the corner of the room, he picked up and opened a small box of matches. Taking one and striking it alight, he used it to carefully light a candle, also on the desk, before blowing the match out. Picking up the tray that held the now-lit candle, he turned to walk back to where the Conductor had been seated.

In the candlelight, Grooves could see the Conductor’s expression now. The latter’s ears lay flat against his head, and in his hands he fumbled with his hat. The look on his face expressed surprise, but it steadily turned back into defensiveness and fear. 

Grooves walked towards the Conductor, sitting across from him on the floor and setting the candle at a distance between them.

For a moment, things were quiet. Faced with this silence, Grooves said the safest thing that came to his mind:

“You shouldn’t be sitting in the dark.”

Even after the small disturbance, silence remained. Eventually, the Conductor took his knees from his chest and sat cross-legged instead. He continued to play with his hat in his lap.

It was then that Grooves noticed he was shaking.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak—

“Shouldn’t you be at your party?”

The Conductor, whose voice was only slightly unstable, stared at him dubiously.

“I cut it short,” Grooves explained. He rubbed the back of his neck. “They were getting tired, I could tell.”

The Conductor looked back down at his hat, then at the candle.

“...I also wanted to check in on you.”  


Almost instantly, the Conductor’s expression turned sour. He scoffed, looking in the other direction.

“I could tell something was wrong,” Grooves quickly added. “You… never leave so early. And you were drinking, and… there was something in your voice…”

“Was it obvious?”

The Conductor avoided Grooves’s gaze.

“Not really. But I’ve known you for so long…”

He heard the other growl slightly before the room became silent again.

“Did something…?” Grooves hesitantly started.

“Happen?” For a moment, the Conductor looked up at the other before looking away again. “Not particularly. Just… got reminded of something. That’s all.”

Grooves solemnly nodded. In the short pause before he spoke again, he noticed that the Conductor’s breathing had become choppy. Almost in sync, the candle appeared to flicker as well.

“Can I help you in any way?”

The Conductor frowned at the question. “What?”

“Can I help you…? Like, is there anything I can do to help you feel better?”

It seemed to take the Conductor quite a while to process Grooves’s question, as he sat quietly without answering until he finally stopped fiddling with his hat, instead squeezing it into a ball in his fist before putting it down and finally answering.

“Just… stay.”

Eyes wide, Grooves stared at the Conductor in disbelief, the latter refusing to meet his gaze. Instead, he shrugged.

“You’ll keep me from doing something regrettable.”

Instantly understanding what the Conductor meant by that, DJ Grooves felt his heart sink. 

And the two of them sat in mutual silence, letting themselves find comfort in the presence of the other as they watched the candle’s flame sway. A gentle rock and flick from side to side until it stilled. 

Eventually, Grooves noticed that the Conductor had fallen asleep. Quietly, so as not to wake the latter up, he rose from his spot on the floor and took the candle with him. Placing it back on the desk he’d gotten it from, he returned to where the Conductor was sitting, asleep.

Kneeling down, Grooves gently scooped up the Conductor, who was surprisingly light, into his arms and carried him over to his bed. Pulling back the covers and then folding them back over the Conductor again, he had almost turned to leave when he heard the other mumble something. It took a moment for his words to register.

“Can’t see.”

Grooves sighed. “Get some rest, okay?”

There was a pause before a quiet content mumble.


End file.
